Garment stretcher



April H. E. MUELLER 2,113,032

GARMENT S TRETCHER Filed Nov, 27, 1956 Inventor Hilda EMueH'er by fi/MZ Her ttorney Patented Apr. 5, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE I GARMENT s'r tncrcnnn Hilda E. Mueller, Schenectady, N. Y. Application November 27, 1936, SerialNo. 112,957"

4 Claims.

My invention relates to garment stretchers and more particularly to stretchers for knitted garments, comprising skirt and blouse either in one or separate pieces.

One object of my invention is toprovide a stretcher which is adjustable to the size of the garment to be stretched and will retain its shape through each adjustment.

Another object of my invention is to provide a stretcher for skirts which will hold the top and bottom ends of the skirt in straight lines at each of several adjustments of the stretcher.

For a better understanding of my invention together with other and further objects thereof, reference is had tothe following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, and its scope will be pointed out in the appended claims.

This application is a continuation in part of my application Serial Number 13,220 filed March 2'7, 1935.

In the accompanying drawing, Fig. l is a front elevation of my garment stretcher; Fig. 2 is an end view of the stretcher; Fig. 3 is an enlarged view of one of the flexible connections between two side members, and Fig. 4 is an enlarged view of one of the adjustable connections between two side members.

Referring to the drawing in detail, Fig. 1 illustrates a stretcher frame consisting essentially of a skirt frame and a sweater frame. The skirt frame comprises members III, II, l2, I3, l4, [5, IS, and [1. The members l and II comprise the top horizontal side; members l2 and I3 comprise the right vertical side; members l4 and I5 comprise the bottom side and members 16 and 11 comprise the right vertical side. The vertical sides are slightly curved and tapered toward the top to give the necessary shape to a skirt,- and the top and bottom members are straight so that the ends of the skirt may be attached thereto and correspondingly held in a straight line. The frame is made of wood, having a necessary width as illustrated in Fig. 2.

The members [3 and M are rigidly connected to each other and the members l5 and I6 are rigidly connected to each other. The members l4 and I5 comprise the bottom straight side of the skirt frame which is parallel to the top side made of the members Ill and H. The members I0 and I1 and the members H and 12 are connected in accordance with my invention by a leaf spring member 18 attached, respectively, to the inner surface of the members 11 and I2, and to the ends of the members l0 and II respectively. The

respective other ends of the'members are joined to form the sides of the frame by a slotted sheet metal strip 20.

When it is desired to adjust the skirt frame, as to width it is only necessary to move the lower side members [4 and 7 away from each other until the correct width is obtained. The members are held in the desired relation by two strips 20 one on each side of the members l4 and I5 and held by bolts 2| which project through the members l4 and i5 and terminate in wing nuts 22. An additional means of holding the two parts of a side in alinement is disclosed in connection with the adjustment of the two sides of'the frame.

The parts l2 and I3 as well as the members It and I! are provided with dowel pins 23 which are respectively placed into the ends of the members and project into holes in the adjacent end of the other member. When it is desired to lengthen the frame it is only necessary to insert a member such as the member 24 which has the proper length and whose ends are provided with the necessary holes to accommodate the dowel pins. A strip 20 and bolts 2| with wing nuts 22 are provided to lock the members to each other. The

' left side of the frame, made up of the parts l6 and H are fastened to each other in the same manner. a

It is necessary in frames of this type to allow for the alinement of parts for each separate adjustment of the frame. It is necessary to provide for a certain flexibility between parts and this flexibility must not interfere with the garment that is to be placed upon the frame. The flexible connection between the parts II and I2 and I0 and I1 provides a flexibility which permits movement of the parts relatively to each other only in the plane of the frame.

The connection provides for sufiicient movement of the connected parts to permit an alinement of the parts It] and I l at each adjustment of the skirt frame permitting the parts to form a straight side which is parallel to the bottom of the frame.

In order to adapt the frame for garments including a sweater, a second section is added to the skirt frame. This section we may term the sweater frame. This frame includes parts 25 and 26 which comprise the bottom side; the parts 21 and comprising respectively the right and left sides of the frame and parts 28 and 29 comprise the upper side of this frame. The bottom members are illustrated as being attached to the upper side of the skirt frame by bolts 2| which extend through the members 25 and I0, and

through 26 and II. If the upper frame is to be used independently the parts 25 and 26 may be held together by strips 20 attached as illustrated on the bottom side of the skirt frame.

In order to provide the necessary flexibility for this frame flexible connections are provided between the parts 26 and 21 and also between parts 25 and 30. The connections are brought about by connecting leaf spring members 3| which are, in this application bent to follow the inner contour of the frame. The ends of the members 21 and 30 are spaced from the members 26 and. 25 respectively so that a movement in either direction from normal may be obtained.

In the sweater section of the frame the side members are whole and a different extension joint is provided at this end of the frame. The connection here used is better illustrated in Fig. 4. The connection comprises a strip member 20 bent and permanently attached by screws to the horizontal members and a bolt 2| with wing nut 22 is used on the side members to lock the upper side to the side members in the desired position. The upper side being made of the two members 28 and 29 may be separated in the manner of the parts l4 and I5 or H! and H.

The shape of the frame issuch as to approximate that of a sweater. The parts 28 and 29 project upwardly at the center to form the collar portion. The upright sides are tapered inwardly toward the waist line and have attached thereto, sleeve members 33 and 34 which are wire members simply hooked into the upper members 28 and 29 and braced in suitable holes in the sides of the members 2'! and 30.

The advantage of my frame over frames hitherto made for this purpose is that the necessary flexibility was not provided for, and if flexibility was provided it was not sufliciently rigid to give the drying and shrinking garment the necessary shape. With my improved adjustment and flexible connections, I have provided a frame of considerable value in the drying of knitted or crocheted garments.

In order to make my frame usable for jackets and coats, I provide a cross arm 35 made up of a number of strips 20 and hooked to the inner surface of the skirt frame by eye-bolts 36. To this cross arm 35 I attached a piece of cloth 3'! which I stretch from the upper horizontal side Ill-ll to this bar. The jacket or coat may be pinned to this cloth while it is drying on the frame.

In order to provide for flares in skirts, I attach such members as 38 to the side of the skirt frame by means of a bolt 2| projecting through the member 38 and adapted to project through the members I6 and I3 respectively.

What I claim is:

1. In a garment stretcher the combination of a skirt and sweater frame, a common rigid member at the juncture of said frames, side members, a flexible joint between each side member and said center member and end members rigidly connected to said side members substantially parallel to said center member.

2. A garment stretcher comprising a frame having parallel upper and lower horizontal sides and a pair of vertical sides all of said sides being joined to comprise a frame having the shape of the garment which is to be shaped, means for adjusting the lengths of these sides, and means for maintaining the parallel relation between said horizontal sides including a pair of rigid connections between one of said horizontal sides and the said vertical sides and a pair of flexible connections between the other of said horizontal sides and said vertical sides comprising leaf springs attached respectively to the adjacent members.

3. A garment stretcher comprising a frame having a pair of horizontal sides and a pair of vertical sides, said horizontal sides being parallel, means for adjusting the lengths of said sides and a flexible joint between one of said horizontal sides and said vertical sides respectively said joint comprising a flexible spring member attached to the end of a said horizontal side and to a said vertical side whereby the horizontal side may move with respect to said vertical side during different adjustments of the frame sides.

4. In a garment stretcher the combination of a sweater frame and a skirt frame, means for attaching said frames to each other including a common rigid center member, rigid side members projecting from each end of said center member, means for adjusting the lengths of said side members, cross members rigidly connected to each pair of said side members to complete said sweater and skirt frames, and flexible joints between said center member and said side members whereby the shape of said frames is main tained for each adjustment of said side members and suflicient flexibility is obtained to allow for maintaining a substantially parallel relation between said cross and center members.

HILDA E. MUELLER. 

